Drawing Fire: A Pawnee, Artist, and Thunderbird in World War II

by Brummett Echohawk, Mark R. Ellenbarger (With), Trent Riley (Editor), Lt. Col. Ernest Childers (Foreword by)

Overview

In 1940 Brummett Echohawk, an eighteen-year-old Pawnee boy, joined the Oklahoma National Guard. Within three years his unit, a tough collection of depression era cowboys, farmers, and more than a thousand Native Americans, would land in Europe—there to distinguish themselves as, in the words of General George Patton, “one of the best, if not the best division, in the history of American arms.” During his service with the 45th Infantry, the vaunted Thunderbirds, Echohawk tapped the talent he had honed at Pawnee boarding school to document the conflict in dozens of annotated sketches.

These combat sketches form the basis of Echohawk’s memoir of service with the Thunderbirds in World War II. In scene after scene he re-creates acts of bravery and moments of terror as he and his fellow soldiers fight their way through key battles at Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. Woven with Pawnee legend and language and quickened with wry Native wit, Drawing Fire conveys in a singular way what it was like to go to war alongside a band of Indian brothers. It stands as a tribute to those Echohawk fought with and those he lost, a sharply observed and deeply felt picture of men at arms—capturing for all time the enduring spirit and steadfast strength of the Native American warrior.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700627035
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	12/10/2018
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	1,082,664
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Brummett Echohawk was born in 1922 in Pawnee, Oklahoma, into a family with a military tradition dating back to the Indian Wars of the 1860s, when his grandfather Howard Echohawk served as a famed Pawnee scout. A celebrated illustrator and artist best known for his focus on the American Indian and the American West, he also designed the flag of the Pawnee Nation and worked on several projects, including, with Thomas Hart Benton, the mural Independence and the Opening of the West at the Truman Memorial Library in Independence, Missouri. For his service in the World War II, Echohawk earned a Combat Infantry Badge, a Bronze Star Medal, the US Army Commendation Medal, two Invasion Arrowheads, a Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal.

Mark R Ellenbarger is retired from the aviation/aerospace industry where he worked in developmental-prototype engineering. He is the founder of the Brummett Echohawk Project. Through the project, Mark works to honor the memory of our WWII veterans through a unique program where Echohawk’s legacy is continued. Through this amazing project families of WWII veterans from all parts of the world have been reconnected. Mark is the great-great grandson of Lucy Wagon Sarcoxie-Patiacow, the oldest Delaware Indian on record at 107 years of age by the tribe. Mark is of Delaware/Cherokee descent.

Trent Riley is a Public Historian currently serving on the staff of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Lt. Col. Ernest Childers (US Army retired) is a World War II veteran, Medal of Honor recipient, and Muscogee (Creek) Indian.

Mark R Ellenbarger is retired from the aviation/aerospace industry where he worked in developmental-prototype engineering. He is the founder of the Brummett Echohawk Project. Through the project, Mark works to honor the memory of our WWII veterans through a unique program where Echohawk's legacy is continued. Through this amazing project families of WWII veterans from all parts of the world have been reconnected. Mark is the great-great grandson of Lucy Wagon Sarcoxie-Patiacow, the oldest Delaware Indian on record at 107 years of age by the tribe. Mark is of Delaware/Cherokee descent.

Trent Riley is a Public Historian currently serving on the staff of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Lt. Col. Ernest Childers (US Army retired) is a World War II veteran, Medal of Honor recipient, and Muscogee (Creek) Indian.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

1 The Quill of the Thunderbird 1

2 Bureau of Indian Affairs 14

3 Van Gogh Countryside 32

4 Father, Bless Our Soldiers 65

5 The Second Day 77

6 Counterattack Time 89

7 The Katy Line 116

8 Avalanche 146

9 The Anzio Abscess 188

Postscript 216

Dramatis Personae 219

Glossary 221

Index 225

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/24/2018
Bronze Star recipient Echohawk narrates key episodes of his time with the 45th U.S. Infantry Division (“the Rock of Anzio”) in Sicily and Italy, with reproduced sketches and notes originating from the field. This honest and beautiful memoir begins with the division’s botched landing in Anzio and focuses on days of close combat and frequent confusion familiar to so many GIs in the European theater. Echohawk’s detailed drawings capturing the humanity, fear, and relentless bravery of his fellow division members on spare paper were noticed first by his superior officers, who assigned him to gather intelligence, and then by a visiting entertainer, who helped him get them published in international newspapers, leading to his postwar career as an artist. The division, nicknamed the Thunderbirds, included numerous members of various Native American tribes, who used traditional skills to track and hide; Echohawk movingly recalls the language and warrior traditions he and his fellow Native soldiers followed—and, in one episode, humorously recalls fake ones they invented to intimidate insolent German captives. This excellent and fascinating account is a unique contribution to the literature of WWII. Illus. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

An excellent addition to a small number of works authored by Native American WWII veterans. [It] will be useful for anyone interested in the Pawnee, Native Americans in World War II and as an example of one Native’s views of military service and related cultural traditions.”—American Indian Culture and Research Journal

“An important work which describes in detail, the day to day life of Native American soldiers in combat. It will enlighten anyone who desires to know who our soldiers were, and how and why they fought.”—On Point

"Echohawk movingly narrates his experiences and those of his fellow Native soldiers, including details that contextualize their service. A gifted artist, Echohawk drew poignant sketches over the course of the war, which are interspersed throughout this book. This monograph honors the heroic service of Native soldiers and patriots while also vividly conveying the horrors of war."—Library Journal

"This honest and beautiful memoir begins with the division's botched landing in Anzio and focuses on days of close combat and frequent confusion familiar to so many GIs in the European theater. Echohawk movingly recalls the language and warrior traditions he and his fellow Native soldiers followed—and, in one episode, humorously recalls fake ones they invented to intimidate insolent German captives. This excellent and fascinating account is a unique contribution to the literature of WWII."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This memoir is an outstanding contribution to the literature of World War II and, hopefully, will instill pride (and perhaps even awe) in current and future generations of readers who want to know what the war was like for the individual fighting man—especially one of Native American heritage. Although Native Americans have been terribly discriminated against for centuries by the US government, the men who served their country as warriors demonstrated courage and loyalty out of all proportion to their numbers. Brummett Echohawk was one of these warriors, and his story is among the best personal accounts of the war that one will find.” —Flint Whitlock, author of The Rock of Anzio: From Sicily to Dachau, a History of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division

“Drawing Fire is a unique and invaluable contribution about American Indians serving in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. It is the personal memoir of the self-taught Pawnee artist Brummett Echohawk, who developed his artistic skills on the battlefields of Europe as a member of the famed 45th Infantry. The reader of this gripping narrative will feel like a participant in what is often the tedium of military service punctuated by the horrors of combat.”—Herman J. Viola, curator emeritus, Smithsonian Institution

“Drawing Fire is a sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, but always fascinating account of the 1943 invasion of Italy by the 45th ‘Thunderbird’ Division, which gained fame because of the number of Native American soldiers in the companies, their bravery and leadership skills, and their use of tribal languages (in this case mostly Pawnee), sign language, and honored warrior traditions. Echohawk’s oral history, which reads like a well-paced action movie script, will be of great interest to World War II military buffs and a substantive contribution to historians and researchers in the sparse field on Native Americans in World War II.”—Jeré Bishop Franco, author of Crossing the Pond: The Native American Effort in World War II

“Brummett Echohawk served with the 45th Infantry Division throughout Italy where he was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Congressional Gold Medal (posthumously). Drawing on his tribal heritage, following the war he dedicated himself to preserving traditional Pawnee culture and became a nationally recognized Native American artist.”—Kenny A. Franks, coauthor of Pawnee Pride: A History of Pawnee County

From the Publisher

11/15/2018

Echohawk (19222–006), a Pawnee, served in the B Company of the 179th Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division. The highly decorated division, known as the Thunderbirds, included more than 1,000 Native Americans from Oklahoma who were thrust into some of the bloodiest combat of World War II in Europe, including the battles of Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio during the Italian Campaign. For his service, Echohawk received numerous awards, most notably a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters. The U.S. Congress posthumously honored him with a Congressional Gold Medal. In this autobiography, coauthored by Ellenbarger (founder & director, Brummett Echohawk Project) and edited by historian Riley, Echohawk movingly narrates his experiences and those of his fellow Native soldiers, including details that contextualize their service. A gifted artist, Echohawk drew poignant sketches over the course of the war, which are interspersed throughout this book. VERDICT This monograph honors the heroic service of Native soldiers and patriots while also vividly conveying the horrors of war. Highly recommended for readers interested in the history of American Indians or World War II as well as combat art.—John R. Burch, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin

Library Journal